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Max Verstappen on Pole for Chinese Grand Prix

F1 Grand Prix Of China Qualifying

Max Verstappen led Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez during Saturday’s (April 20) qualifying session for the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix to complete another lockout of the front row for Red Bull Racing.

Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris will make up the second row of the grid, with the former being only seconds away from securing a second-place start in the race before Perez put in his final fast lap.

“I think after the sprint race, it gave us a few more ideas for the car and I think the car worked even better in qualifying,” Verstappen told Sky Sports’ Ho-Pin Tung after the session. “So, definitely very happy with how the whole of qualifying went. The car was very nice to drive.”

Q3

Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hullkenberg were the stories of Q3, both drivers vastly outperforming their respective teammates who were eliminated in Q1. It was the first Q3 appearance of 2024 for Bottas, and the second for Hulkenberg, who qualified 10th for the opening round in Bahrain.

Pos. Driver No. Driver Team Time from Leader
1. 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:33.660m
2. 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT +0.322s
3. 14 Fernando Alonso Astin Martin Aramco Mercedes +0.488s
4. 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes +0.505s
5. 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes +0.613s
6. 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.629s
7. 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.637s
8. 63 George Russell Mercedes +0.773s
9. 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari +0.944s
10. 77 Valtteri Bottas KICK Sauber Ferrari +1.005s

Q2

Sainz brought out the a red flag halfway through the second session of the day after spinning at the exit of turn 16, sliding into the barrier and slinging gravel across the circuit. Luckily for the Spaniard, there was no major damage to his car and he was able to drive away from the sight. Track cleanup efforts brought the red flag to a length of just over 10 minutes.

Q1

As they have been all weekend, all eyes were locked on Zhou Guanyu as F1’s only Chinese driver looked for a solid start in his first home race. The Shanghai native climbed as high as eighth in the closing stages of Q1, but a flurry of fast laps from the rest of the field left Zhou as the first car to be eliminated from qualifying.

Logan Sargeant spun in turn 9 late in the session, denying himself a chance to advance from the last row of the grid.

Pos. Driver No. Driver Team Time from Advancing
16. 24 Zhou Guanyu KICK Sauber Ferrari +0.218s
17. 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari +0.229s
18. 44 Lewis…

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